The subject matter described and/or illustrated herein relates generally to electrical connectors, and more specifically, to electrical connectors for electronic modules.
Competition and market demands have continued the trend toward smaller and higher performance (e.g., faster) electrical systems. The resulting higher density electrical systems have led to the development of surface mount technology. Surface mount technology allows an electronic module to be electrically connected to contact pads on the surface of an electrical component, such as a printed circuit (sometimes referred to as a “circuit board” or a “printed circuit board”). The electronic module is connected to the electrical component either directly or through an intervening electrical connector, rather than using conductive vias that extend within the electrical component. Surface mount technology allows for an increased component density on the electrical component, which enables the development of smaller and higher performance systems.
Examples of electrical connectors for such smaller and higher performance electrical systems include land-grid array (LGA) sockets and ball-grid array (BGA) sockets. LGA sockets include an array of electrical contacts that are electrically connected to the electrical component and engage an array of contact pads on the electronic module. BGA sockets also include an array of electrical contacts that are electrically connected to the electrical component, but instead of contact pads the electrical contacts of BGA sockets engage an array of solder balls on the electronic module. The electrical contacts of both LGA sockets and BGA sockets may engage contact pads on the electrical component or may be electrically connected to the electrical component via an array of solder balls.
The electrical contacts of electrical connectors used to electrically connect an electronic module to an electrical component are typically fabricated from the same sheet or reel of material, for example by stamping or cutting the contacts out of the sheet or reel. Adjacent electrical contacts are connected together by a strip of material that remains after the contacts have been fabricated from the sheet or reel. For example, a row of the electrical contacts may be fabricated from the same sheet or reel, with each adjacent pair of contacts within the row being connected together by the strip. However, the trend toward higher density electrical systems results in a relatively small pitch between the electrical contacts. It may be difficult to separate adjacent electrical contacts from each other because of the relatively small pitch between the contacts. Specifically, because of the limited space between adjacent electrical contacts, it is difficult to break the strip that holds adjacent electrical contacts together. Traditionally, the strip connecting adjacent electrical contacts is broken before the contacts are mounted on an insulator of the electrical connector. Each electrical contact is then individually aligned and mounted on the insulator, which may increase the difficulty, expense, and/or time it takes to assemble the electrical connector.